Railway-rail joint.



N0. 65I,622. Fatented lune I2, I900.

H. A. GI-IRISTY.

RAILWAY BAIL JOINT.

(Application filed July 8, 1899.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets$heet I.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY A. OHRISTY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO SANGER BROWVN, OF SAME PLACE.

RAILWAY-RAIL JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 651 ,622, dated June 12, 1900.

Application filed July 3, 1899. Serial No. 722,634 (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY A. CHRISTY, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements in Railway-Rail Joints, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide an improved form of railway-rail joints which will prevent battering or exfoliating of the ends of railway-rails and maintain them securely in alinement both vertically and laterally. Heretofore the contacting surfaces between railway-rails and their splice-bars or fish-plates have been inclined to the plane of the bottom and tread of the rail, the fishplate being practically wedge-shaped to fa cilitate its being drawn tightly into place by the transverse bolts. In use a rail-joint of this character becomes loose,owing to expansion and contraction, the effect of jars and vibrations, and numerous other causes. The tendency of such joints is to work loose, and the wedge-shaped form of the fish-plate is the chief cause of this tendency.

My invention consists, broadly stated, in a rail joint or connection in which the fish-plates and rails have bearing contact in planes parallel to the load line or tread of the rail and the base or support of the rail upon its chair or tie.

My invention further consists in a rail Way rail-joint in which fish-plates having convex outer faces are after being placed against the sides of the rail subjected to such pres sure as to increase theirvertical dimension, and thereby produce a tight fit of the plates.

In carrying out my invention I prefer to make both the inner and outer fish-plates of substantially the same form, and the rail will be given a section to adapt it to receive the fish-plates.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated myinvention as applied to a standard railway-rail, the lower portion of the base and the upper portion of the tread being of modern type, while the under surfaces or shoul-v ders of the head and the upper surfaces of the flange or base adjacent to the web are ofmodified construction to adapt them to the purposes of my invention.

Figure 1 is a transverse sectional elevation of -a railway-rail joint embodying my improvement in its simplest form. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the same. Fig. 3 shows the preferred construction of the fish-plates in the condition before being subjected to pressure; and Fig. 4 shows in the full lines the fishrplates after being subjected to pressure by dies, also indicated.

In carrying out my invention I first prepare a rail 5 by rolling the same of such cross-sec tional form as to provide onthe under side of the head and on one or both sides of the rail shoulders or contact-surfaces 6 6, which are parallel to the load-line 7 7 and to the base or support line 8 8. The upper surface of the flange or foot of the rail is also provided with I I supporting surfaces or shoulders 9 9, parallel to the load and support lines and to the shoulders 6 6. Preferably the rail is rolled, so as to present corresponding surfaces or shoulders on both sides. I use in combination with a rail thus formed a fish-plate, which may be of any desired cross-sectional form or contour and length, but which has for the essential purpose of my invention parallel top and bottom surfaces 10 11, adapted to abut and rest, respectively,upon the square shoulders 6 and 9, as shown. These fish-plates may be rolled in the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and of such Width as to fit snugly between the shoulders of the rail and be held in position by the bolts 12 and nuts 13. 'I prefer, however, to make them of the form shownin Figs. 3 and 4, wherein they are represented as having a curved cross section, being concave on their inner sides and convex on their outer sides.

When so constructed, they may be of such The fish-plates when of the form shown in Figs. 1- and 2 are made of suchdimensions as to make a sun g fit and are drawn tightly into contact with the rail by the bolts; but when expanded vertically by pressure they afford a more firm and unvarying support for the head of the rail. In both constructions the factthatthe contacting surfaces are in planes parallel to the load and the base lines pre vents any tendency of the plates to wedge out, thus imparting undue strain and vibration to the bolts and nuts, as in former constructions.

As my improvement obviates the tendency of the fish-plates to work out laterally, it is obvious that it also affords a uniformly secure and light joint or connection between the abutting ends of the rails, and thus pre- Vents vertical movement of the rails and the pounding and consequent injury to the ends of the rails, which results from loose, low, or uneven joints.

It is obvious that the highest attainment of the beneficial results of my invention will be secured by the employment of a construction wherein both sides of the rail are of uniform construction and the lislrplates of corresponding construction; but some of the objections incident to the use of the older forms would be overcome by the employment of my peculiar construction upon one side only of the rail, more especially upon the outside. It is also obvious that my invention may be em- 'plate having a body normally curved in vertical section and adapted to be placed between the head and base of the rail with its convex side outwardly and adapted to yield to lateral pressure against said side whereby, when straightened by pressure, its upper and lower edges will be substantially parallel'and have square abutting contact with the parallel horizontal shoulders of the head and base of the rail, substantially as described.

HENRY A. CHRISTY.

\Vitnesses:

C. G. LINTHICUM, IRVINE MILLER. 

